Huvafen Spa
The world's first underwater spa, at Huvafen Fushi in the Maldives: glass-walled treatment rooms below the surface, and therapists who outshine the setting.
Settle into a treatment room at Huvafen Spa and the windows look out not onto a garden but onto the reef itself: passing fish, drifting light, the slow theatre of Maldivian sea life. This is the world’s first underwater spa, set beneath the surface at Huvafen Fushi, and the novelty genuinely does not wear off.
But Huvafen makes a point worth noting: the setting is not allowed to do all the work. The therapists here do not coast on the surreal surroundings, and the spa’s quiet boast is that, remarkable as the location is, the people are better still.
The treatment menu matches the ambition. The Underwater Dream package leans into the setting, while the Body Balance Pure Massage is the choice for travellers after something more grounded; either way, every treatment is performed with real care and attention to detail.
That is the distinction Huvafen draws, and it is a fair one. There may be plenty of fish in the sea when it comes to luxury Maldivian spas, but some are simply better than others, and a glass-walled room below the waterline, in the right hands, is hard to top.
For travellers who want a spa experience they will not find anywhere else on earth, Huvafen Spa is an extraordinary choice: equal parts engineering marvel and genuinely expert sanctuary.
